Ahm...Not
As one whose blog is not the talk of the town, I am an
authority on how not to have a blog that gets attention.
When I began blogging, it was at the urging of the small
publisher who contracted my book. I had been following a few blogs, but not
faithfully. One of my literate friends huffed that writers who blog are giving
away their pearls for free, and another writing friend said it gobbled up
precious real writing time. So I
dipped my toes in with hesitation and little hope that I could do it right.
I looked at blogs that had many followers, and three things
stuck out: they either were –
A. Constantly updated resources of useful information
B. Vociferously political bordering on the trolling side
C. Or they were enormously entertaining.
A. Constantly updated resources of useful information
B. Vociferously political bordering on the trolling side
C. Or they were enormously entertaining.
The resource-rich blogs are still staples of the blogosphere,
and require work and dedication, as well as passion for the field they serve as
resources for. I had to face that, for me, that sort of time and effort is
reserved for writing fiction. What is left at the end of the day is all for
family and friends.
A couple of examples of excellent resource blogs:
the amazing Jane Freidman’s, about the
business and the craft of writing —
And Evelyn
Christensen’s, (technically not a blog but a website though a periodical
E-zine makes it almost a blog,) about writing for the educational market—
The political sorts of blogs are not only unsuitable for me,
(I am hopelessly centrist there) but I personally have the impediment of
becoming nauseous in their vicinity. This is why I won’t give examples of such,
though I doubt you need it.
So that left the enormously entertaining, and there I continue
to try with occasional success, (minus the “enormously”) which is where my
modest weekly strolls have found me.
The thing is, I have found it pleasant and worthwhile, and
that’s the best part of doing anything. That’s a variation of “doing it right,”
which is right for me right now.
11 comments:
Blogging is not what it used to be. I started doing Facebook live videos for my Monday Mishmash because it gets a lot more views than my blog.
Delightfully entertaining! Plus, I appreciate the resource links. Maybe you've been doing this all alone, but future links to novels, articles you've read? Mirka, it took me a long time to see on Facebook that you write a blog. It just didn't register. I've been enjoying them since I caught on.
My gratitude to you, Susan. From my stats I know many more are reading who never comment. It's delightful to have a new commentator :)
Every time this happens it makes me aware that, contrary to appearances, I was not talking to the wall. (Or I should have said: contrary to how it would look if you were a fly on my actual room's wall where I am if fact talking to it,:P the virtual room is populated.)
LOL, Mirka. I'm not popular either and sometimes grateful for the low traffic because it takes the pressure off to write the next thing. It's nice to have this space on the Interwebs to write as I please :) And I'm happy you have a cyberhome for me to visit, read your thoughtful posts.
I've used my blog for years as a place to send people to so I don't have to answer questions that do not usually have simple answers. And a place to share resources. The way it is set up I can't tell how many hits it gets, so that's obviously not why I do it. ;-)
I enjoy your thought-provoking variety of topics and am impressed you're able to come up with something interesting every week. Thanks for sharing. (And thanks for the shout-out for my website.)
For me, blogging has been a way to connect with other writers online, and I've made some nice friendships online that way. I like to read the writing advice many give, but sometimes I just enjoy reading about their likes, their activities, and what they are reading.
I think things have changed a little in the blogging world. Blogs are not as popular as they used to be. These days, it's more about maintaining friendships with blog buddies who have been blogging for a long time. I think it's a nice, supportive community.
Thank you for this, I am always looking for good resources and am happy to have Jane Friedmen's blog now. I love this question of to or not to blog. I have had several blogs one for healing and raising awareness about abuse, one for fun and my photography, and now one for books, not for my own writing yet but to share the books I love and some story time ideas!
I'm in the same situation - not as many readers as I'd hoped for, but one of the things I like about my so-called blog is that it's as close as I've ever gotten to keeping a diary/journal, even if it's only once a month. I love reading your thoughts and ideas on your blog.
Bloggers have different reasons for blogging. I decided to create a blog as a way to share publicly my explorations in art rather than confining my thoughts to my journal. In the past, I might also have written articles or turned my research and reflections into a book, as I did in other fields. I enjoy the process of blogging because I'm able to incorporate images so easily. And, even though, most of the time, only a few people post comments online or send me emails, I know that what I'm sharing gets shared further. If I touch even one person, stimulate even one conversation, that's enough satisfaction for going to the effort with each post. Sometimes the topic really hits a nerve and a hundred plus readers comment. I never know. But it doesn't matter. I write because writing clarifies, makes more visible, my thinking and feeling.
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